Mkgeorge Oyung is the President of the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria. He tells ANOZIE EGOLE and BABATUNDE TUGBOBO about his life, the shipping industry, and other issues
There is a belief that the maritime sector should be Nigeria’s economic mainstay and become the number one foreign exchange earner outside crude oil. Do you think that is feasible?
That statement cannot be truer. Shipping and maritime are practically the mainstay of the global economy. Shipping accounts for 95 per cent of global trade.
Would you say that the sector is living up to that expectation in Nigeria?
We are struggling. The parameters to measure success are Gross Domestic Profit and trade. Unfortunately, the maritime industry is not well captured in the sphere of things. If one goes to the office of the Statistician General of the Federation, one will realise that they don’t have enough data. We are struggling because we run a political system where leaders are changed every four years, and any party who wins thinks they have got the gold medal, and they make sure they exploit everything, leaving no stone unturned. In the past, people ‘ate’ (public funds) with a fork and knife but these days, they are licking the plate. We have to view maritime as serious business. The laws are there to protect us. All we need to do is to follow the law. The ocean is a very structured environment. It is controlled by the United Nations, under the auspices of the International Maritime Organisation, and they have conventions that countries sign to and ratify as laws. The laws of the ocean, which is the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, has to be followed. If one wants to become a millionaire, one has to do what millionaires do. Also, we must have ships. As the president of the ship owners association of Nigeria, that has been the song I have been singing. I want people to join me because those who don’t wear soccer boots cannot play international football.
There have been calls for the utilisation of the eastern ports. What do you make of that and how well will those initiatives favour ship owners in the country?
It will not only favour ship owners, it will favour the country. A lot of money has been spent to build those ports, and there are so many postulations and theories as to why those ports are not working. The eastern ports have to be operational in a way that is attractive for trade. If those ports are operational, they will open up other avenues of trade, but the policies and services have to be attractive. There is a huge market in Lagos and because of that, most people would rather move their goods by trucks on the roads to the east or to the north, and all these damage the roads.
There is a belief that the utilisation of the eastern ports will affect the patronage of Lagos ports. What do you make of that?
That cannot be proven. Lagos is an established state. It does not matter who built it, and it is a collective effort. All other states must also be developed. Port expansions are good but we need to plan thoroughly for them. We need to engage the public. If there is any legislation coming in that area, there should be a proper public hearing, so that people who are operators, and those who are conversant and proficient in that sector will be able to speak their minds and enlighten everybody.
There are insinuations that older seafarers are retiring and younger ones are not replacing them. What do you think is the reason for that?
It is a natural process for people to retire, and for young ones to replace them. However, it is not that they are not being replaced; the issue is the rate at which they are been replaced, as well as the strategy with which they are being replaced. As far as I’m concerned, that is the problem. First, we have to determine the number of seafarers we want to have. After that, we will be able to know how to train them. Over the years, the training of seafarers has been a jamboree. It has been a situation where up to two to three thousand seafarers are trained but there aren’t ships for them; so, they don’t have where to work. It is like training doctors and there are no places for them to do housemanship. Meanwhile, they need that mandatory internship to become certified seafarers. The problem is the strategy that has been used in the past and the way they have trained seafarers. In our present state, we shouldn’t be training two thousand seafarers. When they are trained, there must be plans for where they are going to work. For people who have been trained to be seafarers, their professional lives are spent in the ocean. If they don’t get to sea, they would literally fall sick.
It is said that piracy on Nigerian waterways is one of the reasons for the high rate of unemployed National Seafarer Development Programme cadets, as many who were trained left for the creeks to make ends meet. How do you think government can solve the problem?
First, we have to agree that that statement is correct. I cannot say that those who are trained are pirates. That is not what I am saying, and we should be careful about that assertion. However, an idle hand is the devil’s workshop. We just have to get our strategies right. We have to set long-term policies. At one stage, one of the government agencies tried to do that but along the line, we heard nothing about it again. The bottom line is that we need to set goals and milestones. We have laws guiding all these areas, and in the training institutions, there are laws as to how they will be certified. The lacuna I see there is that, although I am not saying they should stop training seafarers, all I am saying is that they have to give them places to work after training.
There are also insinuations that Nigerian seafarers lack operational competencies, due to foreign dominance in Nigerian waters. What do you think can be done to correct this deficit?
I don’t think dominance has anything to do with capacity. Training goes with competence. We should not be having the Nigerian maritime sector dominated by foreign ships or by foreigners because laws are there (to protect Nigerians). Every Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency department is guided by an Act, including the Cabotage Act. For any foreign ship that wants to come to Nigeria, there are regulations and laws guiding them. At the same time, they fly the kite of competence and capacity. The capacity issue is not rocket science, because nobody was born with capacity. It is usually said that when you want to hide something from a Nigerian, hide it in a book. My question to those who are maritime stakeholders is that how many of them have stopped reading the Cabotage act, NIMASA act, and the Nigerian Content Act? The NIMASA acts require that they should protect, preserve and provide for the maritime industry, and they are empowered to stop those foreign ships from operating in Nigeria.
The global maritime industry is said to generate $6trn annually. What do you think is holding Nigeria back from tapping into the enormous wealth in that sector?
Nigeria is a maritime nation and all maritime nations belong to the International Maritime Organisation, in categories A, B, and C, depending on their maritime strength, fleet, and ship registry. There is a checklist of what to do, and we have been struggling to enter category C. In order to get into that category, we have to do some things but we have failed. As a practitioner, I feel we should do a bit more.
The Cabotage Act was created to restrict foreign vessels from Nigeria’s coastal waters. How well has the Act achieved the purpose of its creation?
The Cabotage Act was created to ensure that ships were built, operated, registered, and owned by Nigerians. My assessment of the law, in its 19 years of existence, is that it has not yielded results in terms of limiting or restricting foreign participation in our waters. It is supposed to be a collective effort but NIMASA must take the lead because that is their responsibility. We need to focus on what needs to be done for the Cabotage Act to achieve the purpose for which it was enacted.
The Minister of Transportation recently said he would ensure the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessels Financing Fund. Considering the situation on the ground, how possible is that?
I will not comment on the former minister, as a matter of principle, because that chapter is closed. It is gone, and we should talk about what is possible. The baton has changed. I feel he did his best. I know that he did a lot in terms of railways, and he admitted that he concentrated on that sector. My wish is that the current minister should look into the maritime sector, because that is where the low-hanging fruits are.
As the leader of the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria, what measures have you taken to see that the fund is disbursed?
We have made efforts. In my tenure as the President of the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria, it is a major objective. I have pursued it and I’m still pursuing it. We are having a conversation with the new minister, and all he needs to do is to bring up a guideline for the disbursement. The guidelines should be structured within the ambit of the Cabotage Act. I don’t have any advice for the minister but to urge him to do what he has been appointed to do; one of which is to supervise NIMASA.
Nigeria is more of an importing nation than an exporting one. Does that pose any disadvantage to ship owners?
Shipping is about import and export. It is either one is importing or exporting. Both should favour ship owners. Whether Nigeria is an exporting or importing country is beyond the capacity of ship owners to determine. It is government policies that will determine that. However, there are so many things we can export, such as iron ore and cassava.
NIMASA purchased some helicopters and aircraft to monitor the ocean. How effective has the measure been in terms of security of the waterways?
We see the effect on the waterways. Piracy has reduced in the country. That is a celebrated truth, and it is something the world is rejoicing about. However, we need to make sure it is sustainable, and that the effort doesn’t change along the line due to either strategy or sustainability.
What impact do you think the African Continental Free Trade Agreement would have on the shipping sector?
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement is based on shipping. Thirty-four or 36 out of 51 African countries are linked by sea. Shipping is a low-hanging fruit, so the impact of shipping on AfCFTA cannot be over-emphasised. The African ship owners association is building up to be able to harness ships. The AfCFTA was conceptualised, if I may say, based on shipping.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had openly accepted that Nigeria had not done anything about moving Nigeria’s crude by Nigerian ships. Now that it is a new entity, do you foresee this narrative changing for good?
NNPC has always been subject to Nigerian content law, and it is even more so now that they are a limited entity. NNPC should look at the Petroleum Industry Act and of course, the Nigerian Content Act because people can hold them accountable now. The Free On Board policy was faulty ab initio. I would even say it is illegal, because the Nigerian Content Act has it that every transaction in the oil and gas industry must have Nigerian content, and they have a monitoring board that can enforce that. They have been doing their best, but this time, there is an opportunity for the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board to ensure that Nigeria moves faster. NNPC must go further to do the needful. The Nigerian Content Act stipulates that if Nigeria does not have certain capacity, the NNPC must create it within one or two years.
How much more revenue nation can Nigeria make if the country uses Nigerian vessels to move her crude?
That is hard to say actually. For instance, if the freight is three million dollars, the money will be paid to a Nigerian company, and the company will pay taxes. The company would also employ people to work on the ship, thereby creating employment opportunities. For one direct maritime job, up to 10 maritime auxiliary jobs are created. In financial terms, prosperity will be created, and that is what the country needs.
Over the years, the government has talked about the decongestion of the port in Lagos, but that has not been achieved. What do you feel the government can do better in that regard?
I don’t think it is correct to say that the government is not doing anything to that effect. We read and hear in the media about a lot of things being done. If one goes there, one would notice that a lot of changes have been made, including the use of Apps. My opinion is that they must turn the ‘Apapa’ port from being an ‘Ajegunle’ port to a port that is not in a city. The ‘city’ should be moved away from the port. The port is not a place for touts, so there should be a vibrant port authority to create boundaries. For me that is workable. Building roads is also a no-brainer. It costs a lot of money, no doubt, and they must be maintained, but that is not the solution. If the trucks don’t have a place to load and offload, and have good access to the port, nothing can be done.
There is a global yearning and shift towards cleaner energy. Do you think Nigerian shipping industry is well positioned to embrace decarbonisation?
Decarbonisation is a big topic. However, the global shipping industry is doing something about it. In Nigeria, the laws are there to stop carbon emissions. It is also one of NIMASA’s duties. The good news for those of us in Nigeria is that the fuel we use to power our ships is really low in sulphur, so the emission is under control. However, I cannot say the same for other vessels. There is an equipment that is supposed to be installed on the ships to reduce emissions. That is going to be a higher cost for shipping, but I don’t think that price is bigger than the consequences of not stopping emissions. It is a sacrifice we need to make, in order to protect the planet.
In what ways do you think that the Lekki Deep Sea Port will change the maritime sector?
The more ports we have, the better for Nigeria, because it is a big country. The Lekki port will increase trade, but I take that with a pinch of salt because I am not aware of any city or port limits. The Nigerian Port Authority must step in to make sure that we don’t repeat the problem of Apapa in Lekki.
What is the greatest challenge you have faced as the president of the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria?
There have been high points and challenges. My heart bleeds because shipping and ship owners have the key to unlock the economic prosperity of Nigeria, yet only a few people understand that. That is my greatest challenge. We can only continue to speak in the same voice. When I came in as president, I tried to narrow the gap between the ship owners’ associations that we had. There were bitter feelings in the past, but we tried to harmonise them, and I am glad to say that we are solving the problem. The majority of people who were in other associations are now joining our own association. We have bridged a lot of gaps.
Tell us about your background.
I was born in Calabar, Cross River State. I attended the Hope Waddell Training Institution in Calabar. I also went to the University of Ibadan, where I studied Medicine, with a specialisation in gynecology and enzymology. As an undergraduate, I was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a second lieutenant. Upon graduation as a doctor, I was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. When I completed my housemanship, I was made a substantive captain, before I was later promoted to the rank of Major.
While in the army, I was the Commanding Officer of the 32 Brigade Field Ambulance in Bama, Borno State. I also went on the Organisation of African Unity’s peacekeeping operation in Chad in 1982, where I spent six months as the battalion’s medical officer. However, the army did not give me the satisfaction I wanted, so I felt I needed to retire voluntarily. I then established the White Cross Hospital in Oshodi, Lagos. I worked there for a couple of years before venturing into business because medical practice was not financially rewarding (for me).
I went on to get an import license for chemicals, as well as a fishing trawler. After importing the fishing trawler, I ventured into fishing and grew the fleet to seven trawlers. We were exporting shrimps to the United States of America and Europe. I was also selling fish in Ijora, Lagos. I had a 300-ton cold room in Ajao Estate, Lagos, as well.
I eventually had to resign from my clinic to face the maritime business squarely because the bank insisted that I had to hand over or delegate the medical practice to another doctor. However, the fishing business collapsed when the price of diesel shot up. So, I ventured into tanker transportation. When the law changed in the 2000, and single-haul vessels were banned by the United Nations under the auspices of IMO, we had to scrap all the vessels, and invest in a brand new tanker called MT Breakthrough, which I bought in China. it was financed by a bank. It became the first vessel in the Nigerian flag register, which was brand new and in cabotage (the first vessel that started cabotage). It arrived in Nigeria in 2008, and it worked for the NNPC.
However, I still practice gynecology and enzymology on an advisory basis.
Who is your role model?
Jesus Christ.
How do you unwind?
I play golf. I also like to work in the church; I am a Catholic. I like music too. I brought American rapper, Rick Ross, to Nigeria in 2012 for the Summer Jam Festival. I was also featured in one of his videos.
How do you like to dress?
I wear whatever is comfortable. I don’t have a particular style. It depends on the event I am attending, and how I want to appear. I am a high chief of the Efik Kingdom, and sometimes, I wear my traditional regalia.
What is your favourite food?
That is afang soup, because I am a Calabar man.
Do you cook?
Of course, I know how to cook. I teach my sons to cook as well.
What is your best colour?
Many currencies are green. It is also the colour of growth and freshness, as well as being prominent in the country’s flag.
